The Son of Abraham

The introduction to the Gospel of Matthew declares that Jesus is the “son of Abraham.” This is much more than another name on a genealogical list. It is a declaration that Jesus of Nazareth is the heir of the Covenant promises made by the God of Israel to the Patriarch. Moreover, the identification of him as Abraham’s “son” and heir points to the THEME OF FULFILLMENT that dominates Matthew. In Jesus, all the promises of God find their “Yea, and Amen”!

The Book of Genesis traces Abraham’s lineage to the first man, Adam, a line that included many righteous men. Yet, in Matthew, rather than Adam, the starting point of the genealogical record is Abraham, a line that culminated in the Messiah - (Matthew 1:17).

[Photo by Andrew Coelho on Unsplash]

Not only is the Patriarch pivotal to the history of Israel, not only did the Covenant begin with him, but the arrival of the true “seed of Abraham” is its climax. He is the one who now brings the promises of Yahweh to fruition – (Galatians 3:16 – “Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He says not, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your seed,’ which is Christ”).

God promised to bless Abraham’s “seed.” Nations and kings would come from him, and in him, “all the tribes of the Earth” would be blessed. From its inception, the Covenant envisioned the inclusion of the “nations of the Earth” - (Genesis 12:1-3, 17:4-8).

In the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that God is about to fulfill His Covenant promises, especially those made to Abraham and David:

• “You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give unto him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there shall be no end” - (Luke 1:31-33).

In Matthew, Jesus is also called the “son of David,” the promised king who reigns forevermore on the Messianic throne, not only over Israel but also over the nations and the “Kings of the Earth” - (Psalm 2:7-9, Revelation 1:4-6).

In her song celebrating what God did for her, Mary invokes the Abrahamic Covenant and links it to the miraculous child in her womb:

• (Luke 1:47-55) – “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For he has looked upon the low estate of his handmaid… He has given help to Israel his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, toward Abraham and his seed forever.”

Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise “to Abraham and his seed.” Mary’s reference to his “mercy being to generations and generations” echoes God’s original Covenant with Abraham - “Your seed after you throughout their generations.”

Yahweh sent his son as promised, and now he rules over all the nations of the Earth in fulfillment of that promise. As Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist confirms in Luke’s account:

• (Luke 1:68-73) – “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; For he has visited and wrought redemption for his people and raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old… To show mercy towards our fathers and remember his holy covenant; the oath which he swore to Abraham our father.”

JOHN THE BAPTIST

But physical descent alone does not qualify anyone for membership in the Covenant community. Ishmael was the biological son of Abraham but did not receive the promise. Likewise, Jacob was accepted by God, but Esau was rejected. Being the true “son of Abraham” entails much more than a biological relationship.

Famously, John the Baptist warned the leaders of Israel NOT to appeal to their descent from Abraham to validate their covenant status, as Matthew informs us:

• (Matthew 3:9) – “And they were being baptized in the Jordan River by him, openly confessing their sins. But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Broods of vipers! Who suggested for you to flee from the coming wrath? Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance; and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. I say to you, God is able out of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”

Repentance and submission to the Messiah, the true “seed of Abraham,” are mandatory to enter the Kingdom, not physical descent from the Patriarch. Moreover, in John’s declaration, the term “stones” is metaphorical and refers to Gentiles that will be brought into the Covenant, just as Yahweh promised Abraham.

Compare the following words of Jesus with those of Yahweh to Abraham:

• (Matthew 8:8-12) – “But the (Roman) centurion said, Lord! I am of no consideration that under my roof you should enter, but only say with a word and healed will be my servant… Now Jesus, hearing, marveled and said to them that were following him: Truly, I say to you, with no one in Israel such faith as this have I found. But I say to you, many from east and west will come and recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast into the darkness outside.”

• (Genesis 13:14-16) – “And Yahweh said to Abram: Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are; northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you are beholding, I will give to you, and to your seed to times everlasting. And I will make your seed as the dust of the Earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the Earth, your seed also may be numbered.”

The clause in the first passage, “east and west,” echoes the command to Abraham to look “north and south, east and west” to see the extent of the Promised Land. In both the Hebrew and Greek languages, the term rendered “land” can refer to the entire “Earth.” Thus, the Covenant always anticipated something larger than the small territory of Canaan and the biological descendants of Abraham, as Jesus himself confirmed - (Genesis 12:3, 13:14).

Though he limited his ministry to the children of Israel, the Nazarene did not exclude Gentiles from his efforts, and certainly not from his larger vision. His occasional interactions with non-Jews anticipated the later opening of the Gospel to all nations.

MATTHEW CONCLUDES

Like its beginning, the conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel recalls the Covenant with Abraham and the messianic promises to the House of David:

• “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in Heaven and on Earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations” - (Matthew 28:18-19).

The departing command of Jesus echoes the promise in the second Psalm to give him the “nations as your inheritance, and as your possession, the ends of the Earth.” Likewise, the promise to “bless all the nations” in Abraham reverberates in his words. He is the True and Greater “son of Abraham.” Therefore, he now has “all authority” in Heaven and on Earth.

Accordingly, he is sending his disciples as his envoys to announce his Good News and sovereignty. The messianic age, the era of fulfillment, arrived in earnest in the ministry, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and this glorious message is now heralded to the nations whenever and wherever his Gospel is proclaimed.

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